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Title: The Arabian Nights, Volume II of IV
Author: Anonymous
Translator: Edward Forster
Release Date: September 26, 2020 [EBook #63306]
Language: English
Character set encoding: UTF-8
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ARABIAN NIGHTS, VOLUME II ***
Produced by Mohammad Aboomar for the QuantiQual Project;
Project ID: COALESCE/2017/117 (Irish Research Council)
Transcriber's Note
The first edition of this translation was published in London in 1802 in five volumes. It was translated indirectly by Edward Forster from the French
translation of Antoine Galland titled Les mille et une nuits.
THE
ARABIAN NIGHTS.
VOL. II.
THE
ARABIAN NIGHTS.
IN FOUR VOLUMES,
TRANSLATED
BY
EDWARD FORSTER, M. A.
THE FOURTH EDITION.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR WILLIAM MILLER, ALBEMARLE-STREET,
Reprinted by Assignment, for
THOMAS TEGG, NO. 111, CHEAPSIDE.
1815.
W. Lewis, Printer, St. John’s Square, London.
THE
ARABIAN NIGHTS.
THE HISTORY
OF THE LITTLE HUNCHBACK.
In the city of Casgar, which is situated near the farther extremity of Great Tartary, there formerly lived a tailor, who had the good fortune to
possess a very beautiful wife, between whom and her husband there existed the strongest mutual affection. One day, while the tailor was at work in
his shop, a little hunchbacked fellow came and sat down at the door, and began playing on a tymbal, which he accompanied with his voice. The
tailor was much pleased with his performance, and resolved to carry him home, that he might entertain his wife, who would equally, he thought,
with himself, be amused in the evening with his pleasant and humorous songs. He immediately therefore made the proposal to the little hunchback,
who readily accepted the invitation; and the tailor directly shut up his shop, and took him home with him.
They were no sooner arrived than the tailor’s wife, who had already set out the table, as it was near supper time, placed upon it a very nice dish
of fish, which she had been dressing. They all three then sat down; but in eating, the little hunchback had the misfortune to swallow a large fish-
bone, which stuck fast in his throat, and almost instantly killed him, before the tailor or his wife could apply any relief. They were both most
dreadfully frightened at this accident; for, as it happened in their house, they had great reason to fear it might come to the knowledge of some of the
officers of justice, who would punish them as murderers; the husband, however, thought of an expedient to get rid of the dead body.
He recollected, that there lived in his neighbourhood, a physician, who was a Jew; and he formed a plan, which he directly began to put in
execution. He and his wife took up the body, one by the head and the other by the feet, and carried it to the physician’s house. They knocked at
the door, which was at the bottom of a steep and narrow flight of stairs that led to his apartment. A maid servant immediately came down, without
even staying for a light; and opening the door, asked them what they wanted. “I will thank you to go and tell your master,” said the tailor, “that we
have brought him a patient, who is very ill, and for whom we request his advice. Stop,” added he, holding out a piece of money in his hand, “give
him this in advance, that he may be assured we do not intend he should lose his labour for nothing.” While the servant went back to inform her
master, the Jewish physician, of this good news, the tailor and his wife quickly carried the body of the little hunchback up stairs, left him close to
the door, and returned home as fast as possible.
In the mean time the servant went and told the physician, that a man and a woman were waiting for him at the door, and requested him to go
down to see a sick person whom they had brought for that purpose. She then gave him the money she had received from the tailor. Transported
with joy at the idea of being paid beforehand, he conceived it must be a most excellent patient, that they had brought him; and one who ought not
to be neglected. “Bring a light directly,” cried he to the girl, “and follow me.”—“Having said this, he ran towards the staircase in such a hurry, that
he did not wait for the light, and encountering little hunchback, he gave him such a blow with his foot, as sent him from the top of the stairs to the
bottom; and he had some difficulty to prevent himself from following him. “Why don’t you come with the light?” he called out to the servant. She at
last appeared, and they went down stairs. When the physician found that what had rolled down stairs turned out to be a dead man, he was so
alarmed at the sight, that he invoked Moses, Aaron, Joshua, Esdras, and all the other prophets of the law to his assistance. “Wretch, that I am,”
exclaimed he, “why did I not wait for the light? why did I go down in the dark? I have completely killed the sick man, whom they brought to me. I
am the cause of his death, and if the good ass [1] of Esdras does not come to my assistance, I am a lost man. Alas, alas, they will come and drag
me hence as a murderer.”
Notwithstanding the perplexity he was in, he had the precaution to shut his door, for fear, that as any one passed along the street, they might
perchance discover the unfortunate accident, of which he believed himself to be the cause. He immediately took up the body, and carried it into his
wife’s apartment, who was near fainting when she saw him come in with his fatal load. “Alas,” she cried, “we are quite lost, if we cannot find some
means of getting rid of this dead man before to-morrow morning. We shall inevitably forfeit our lives, if we keep him till day breaks. What a
misfortune! how could you kill this man?”—“Never mind, in this dilemma, how it happened,” said the Jew, “our only business at present is how to
remedy so dreadful a calamity.”
The physician and his wife then consulted together upon the best means of ridding themselves of the body during the night. The husband
pondered a long time, but could think of no stratagem likely to extricate them from this embarrassment; but his wife was more fertile in invention,
and said, “A thought occurs to me. Let us take the carcase up to the terrace of our house, and let him down the chimney, into that of our
neighbour’s, the mussulman.”
This mussulman was one of the sultan’s purveyors; and it was his office to furnish oil, butter, and all other articles of a similar kind. His
warehouse for these things was in his dwelling-house, where the rats and mice used to make great havoc and destruction.
The Jewish physician having approved of his wife’s plan, they took the little hunchback and carried him to the roof of the house, and having first
fastened a cord under his arms, they let him gently down the chimney into the purveyor’s apartment. They managed this so adroitly, that he
remained standing on his feet against the wall, exactly as if he were alive. As soon as they found they had landed him, they drew up the cords, and
left him precisely in the situation I have related. They had hardly gone down from the terrace, and retired to their chamber, when the purveyor went
into his. He was just returned from a wedding feast, which he had been invited to partake of on that evening; and he had a lantern in his hand. He
was very much surprised at seeing, by means of this light, a man standing up in the chimney: but as he was naturally of a brave and courageous
disposition, and as he thought it was a thief, he seized hold of a large stick, with which he directly ran at little hunchback, “Ah, ah,” he cried, “I
thought it was the rats and mice who eat my butter and tallow; and it is you, who come down the chimney, and rob me. I don’t think you will ever
wish to visit me again.” In saying this he attacked hunchback, and gave him many hard blows. The body at last fell down, with its face on the
ground. The purveyor then redoubled his blows; but at length remarking, that the body he struck did not make the least motion, he stopped to
observe it. Perceiving then that it was a dead man, fear succeeded to rage. “What have I done, miserable wretch that I am!” he exclaimed. “Alas I
have carried my vengeance too far. Good God, have pity upon me, or my life is gone. I wish all the butter and oil were destroyed a thousand times
over, before they had caused me to commit so criminal an action.” He remained pale and confounded; and imagined he already saw the officers of
justice coming to conduct him to his punishment: he knew not what course to follow.
While the sultan of Casgar’s purveyor was beating the little hunchback, he did not perceive his hump; the instant he did, he poured out an
hundred imprecations on it. “Oh, you rascal of a hunchback, you dog of deformity? would to God you had robbed me of all my fat and grease
before I had found you here. I should not then have got into the scrape I have, and be hanged to you, and your rascally hump. O ye stars, which
shine in the heavens,” he cried, “shed your light to lead me out of the imminent danger in which I am.” Having said this, he took the body of the
hunchback upon his shoulders, went out of his chamber, and walked into the street, where he set it upright against a shop, and having done this, he
made the best of the way to his house, without once looking behind him.
A little while before day-break, a Christian merchant who was very rich, and who furnished the palace of the sultan with most things which were
wanted there, having passed the night in revelry and debauchery, was just come from home in his way to a bath. Although he was much
intoxicated, he had still sufficient recollection to know, that the night was far advanced, and that the people would very soon be called to early
prayers. It was for this reason that he was making all the haste he could in order to arrive at the bath, for fear any mussulman, as he was going to
mosque, should meet him, and order him to prison as a drunkard. When he was at the end of the street, however, he stopped, for some occasion
or other, close to the shop against which the sultan’s purveyor had placed little hunchback’s body, which at the very first touch fell directly against
the merchant’s back. The latter took him for a robber, that was attacking him; and therefore knocked him down with his fist, with which he struck
him on the head. He immediately repeated his blows, and began calling out, “Thief, thief.”
The guard, belonging to that quarter of the city, came directly on hearing his cries; and seeing that it was a Christian who was beating a
mussulman, (for little hunchback was of our religion,) “What business have you,” he said, “to ill-treat a mussulman in that manner?”—“He wanted
to rob me,” answered the merchant, “and he attacked me behind in order to seize me by my throat.”—“You have revenged yourself pretty well,”
replied the guard, taking hold of the merchant’s arm, and pulling him away, “let him go therefore.” At the same time he held out his hand to the
hunchback, to assist him in getting up; but observing that he was dead, “Oh, oh,” he cried, “is it thus then, that a Christian has the impudence to
assassinate a mussulman.” Having said this, he arrested the Christian merchant, and carried him before the magistrate of the police, from whence
they sent him to prison, till the judge had risen, and was ready to examine the accused. In the mean time the merchant became completely sober;
and the more he reflected upon this adventure, the less could he comprehend how a single blow with the fist was capable of taking away the life of
a man.
Upon the report of the guard, and after having seen the body, which they had brought with them, the judge examined the Christian merchant,
who could not deny the crime, although he in fact was not guilty of it. As the little hunchback belonged to the sultan, for he was one of his buffoons,
the judge determined not to put the Christian to death, till he had learnt the will of the prince. He went, therefore, to the palace, in order to give an
account of what had passed to the sultan; who having heard the whole story, replied, “I have no mercy to show towards a Christian who kills a
mussulman; go and do your duty.” At these words the judge of the police went back, and ordered a gibbet to be erected; and then sent some
criers through the city to make known, that a Christian was going to be hanged for having killed a mussulman.
At last they took the merchant out of prison, and conducted him on foot to the gallows. The executioner having fastened the cord round the
merchant’s neck, was just going to draw him up into the air, when the sultan’s purveyor, making his way through the crowd, approached the
executioner, and called out, “Stop, stop, do not be in a hurry; it is not he who has committed the murder; I have done it.” The judge of the police,
who attended the execution, immediately interrogated the purveyor, who gave him a long and minute detail of the manner in which he had killed the
little hunchback; and he concluded by saying, that he had carried the body to the place where the Christian merchant had found it. “You are
going,” added he, “to sacrifice an innocent person, since he could not kill a man that was not alive. It is enough for me to have slain a mussulman,
without having to charge my conscience with the murder of a Christian, who is not criminal.”
When the purveyor of the sultan of Casgar had thus publicly accused himself of being the author of the hunchback’s death, the judge could not
do otherwise than act with justice towards the merchant. “Let the Christian merchant go,” said he to the executioner, “and hang this man in his
place, since it is evident, by his own confession, that he is the guilty person. The executioner immediately released the merchant, and put the rope
round the neck of the purveyor; and at the very instant that he was going to complete the punishment, he heard the voice of the Jewish physician,
who desired them to stop the execution that instant, that he might come and take his place at the foot of the gallows.
“Sir,” said he, as soon as he was come before the judge, “this mussulman, whom you are about to deprive of his life, does not deserve to die; I
alone am the guilty wretch. About the middle of last night, a man and a woman, who are total strangers to me, came and knocked at my door, with
a sick person, whom they brought with them: my servant went instantly to the door without waiting for a light, and having first received a piece of
money from one of them, she came to me and said, that they wished I would come down and look at the sick person. While she was bringing me
this message, they brought the patient up to the top of the stairs, and then disappeared. I went directly out, without waiting till my servant had
lighted a candle; and meeting with the sick man in the dark, I gave him an unintentional kick, and he fell from the top to the bottom of the staircase.
I then discovered that he was dead, and that he was a mussulman, and the very same little hunchback whose murderer you now wish to punish.
My wife and myself took the body and carried it to the roof of our home, whence we let it down into that of our neighbour, the purveyor, whose
life you are now going most unjustly to take away; as we were the persons who placed the body in his apartment, by lowering it down the
chimney. When the purveyor discovered him, he took him for a thief, and treated him as such. He knocked him down, and believed he had killed
him; but this is not the fact, as you may now be convinced by my confession. I alone am the author of the murder; and although it was unintentional,
I am resolved to expiate my crime, and not charge my conscience with the death of two mussulmen, by suffering you to take away the life of the
sultan’s purveyor, whose innocence I thus clearly prove to you. Dismiss him then, if you please, and put me in his place; since no one but myself
was the cause of the hunchback’s death.
As soon as the judge was convinced that the Jewish physician was the true murderer, he ordered the executioner to take him, and set the
purveyor at liberty. The cord was now placed round the neck of the physician, and he had hardly a moment to live, when the voice of the tailor
was heard, who entreated the executioner not to proceed, while he made his way to the judge of the police, to whom, on his approach, he said,
“You have been very near, sir, causing the death of three innocent persons; but if you will have the patience to listen to me, you shall be informed
of the true murderer of the hunchback. If his death ought to be expiated by that of another person, mine is the one to be taken.
“As I was at work in my shop yesterday evening, a little before dark, and in a disposition well suited to enjoy any amusement, this little
hunchback came up to it half drunk, and sat down. He immediately began to sing, and went on for some time, when I proposed to him to come
and pass the evening at my house. He no sooner agreed to it, than I conducted him thither. We sat down to table almost directly, and I helped him
to a little piece of fish; in eating of which a bone stuck fast in his throat, and in spite of every thing that my wife and I could do to relieve him, he
died in a very short time. We were much afflicted at his death; and for fear of being taken up on account of it, we carried the body to the door of
the Jewish physician. I knocked, and told the servant, who opened it, to go back to her master as soon as possible, and request him from us to
come down, to see a patient, whom we had brought to him; and that he might not refuse coming, I charged her to put into his own hand a piece of
money, which I gave her for that purpose. She was no sooner gone up, than I carried the little hunchback to the top of the stairs, and laid him on
the first step: having done this, my wife and myself made the best of our way home. When the physician came out in order to go down, he
stumbled against the hunchback, and rolled him down from the top to the bottom, which made him suppose he was the cause of his death. Since,
however,” added he, “the case is as it is, let the physician go, and take my life instead of his.”
The judge of the police, and all the spectators, were filled with astonishment at the various strange events that the death of the little hunchback
seemed to have given rise to. “Let the physician then depart,” said the judge, “and hang the tailor, since he confesses the crime. I must candidly
own, that this adventure is a very extraordinary one, and is worthy of being written in letters of gold.” When the executioner had set the physician
at liberty, he put the cord round the tailor’s neck.
While all this was passing, and the executioner was preparing to hang the tailor, the sultan of Casgar, who never passed any length of time
without seeing the little hunchback, his buffoon, ordered him into his presence; when one of the attendants replied, “Little hunchback, sire, whom
your majesty is so desirous to see, after having got drunk yesterday, escaped from the palace, contrary to his usual custom, in order to wander
about the city; and this morning he was found dead. They have brought a man before the judge of the police, who was accused of his murder, and
the judge immediately ordered a gibbet to be erected. At the very moment they were going to hang the accused person, another man came up to
the gallows, and then a third, who each accused themselves, and declared the former to be innocent of the murder. All this took up some time, and
the judge is at this moment in the very act of examining this third man, who says that he is the real murderer.”
On hearing this, the sultan of Casgar sent one of his attendants to the place of execution, “Go,” he cried, “with all possible speed, and tell the
judge instantly to bring all the accused persons before me; and order them also to bring the body of poor little hunchback, whom I wish once more
to see.” The officer instantly went, and arrived at the very moment that the executioner began to draw the cord, in order to hang the tailor. He
called out to them as loud as he could to suspend the execution. As the hangman knew the officer, he durst not proceed, but let the tailor live. The
officer, having now come up to the judge, declared the will of the sultan. The judge obeyed, and proceeded to the palace with the tailor, the Jew,
the purveyor, and the Christian merchant, and ordered four of his people to carry the body of the hunchback.
As soon as they were come into the presence of the sultan, the judge prostrated himself at his feet; and when he got up, he gave a faithful and
accurate detail of every thing that related to the adventure of little hunchback. The sultan thought it so very singular, that he commanded his own
historian to write it down, with all its particulars: then addressing himself to those who were present, he said, “Have any one of you ever heard a
more wonderful adventure than this, which is now happened to the hunchback, my buffoon?” The Christian merchant, having first prostrated
himself so low at the sultan’s feet, that his head touched the ground, then spoke as follows: “Powerful monarch, I think I am acquainted with a still
more surprising history than that which you have just heard recited; and if your majesty will grant me permission, I will relate it. The circumstances
are of such a nature, that no person can hear them without being affected at the narrative.” The sultan having permitted him to speak, he began his
story in these words:
THE STORY
TOLD BY THE CHRISTIAN MERCHANT.
Before I begin, sire, the account which your majesty has consented to listen to, I must, if you please, just remark, that I have not the honour of
being born in any spot within the limits of your empire. I am a stranger: a native of Cairo, in Egypt, of Coptic parents, and by religion a Christian.
My father was by profession a broker, and had amassed a considerable fortune, which, when he died, he left to me. I followed his example, and
pursued the same line of business. One day, when I was in the public grain market at Cairo, which is frequented by the dealers in all sorts of grain,
a young merchant, very well made, handsomely dressed, and mounted upon an ass, accosted me. He saluted me, and opening a handkerchief, in
which he had a sample of sesamè, he showed it to me, and inquired how much a large measure of grain of a similar quality was worth. I examined
the sample, which the young merchant had put into my hands, and told him, that, according to the present price, a large measure was worth a
hundred drachms of silver. “Look then,” he said, “for a merchant who will buy it at that price, and come to the gate, called Victory, where you will
see a khan, separate from every other house, and I will wait for you there.” Having said this, he went away, and left me the sample of sesamè,
which I showed to different merchants on the spot, who all said, they would take as much as I would sell them, at one hundred and ten drachms of
silver a measure; and at this rate I should gain ten drachms for each measure sold.
Pleased with so much profit, I went directly to the Victory gate, where the merchant was waiting for me. He carried me into his warehouse,
which was full of sesamè. I had it measured, and there were about one hundred and fifty large measures. I then loaded it upon asses and went and
sold it for five thousand drachms [2] of silver. “Of this sum,” said the young man to me, “you have a right, according to our agreement, to five
hundred drachms, after the rate of ten drachms a measure; what remains belongs to me, but as I have no immediate want of it, go in and put it by
for me, till I shall come and demand it of you.” I told him, it should be ready at any time, that he should wish to come for it, or send any one to
demand it. I kissed his hand, when he left me; and went home, very well satisfied with his generosity.
A whole month passed without my seeing him; at the end of which time he appeared. “Where,” he asked me, “are the four thousand five
hundred drachms of silver, which you owe me?”—“They are all ready,” I replied, “and I will immediately count them out to you.” As he was
mounted upon an ass, I requested him to alight, and do me the honour to eat with me before he received his money. “No,” he answered, “I have
not time at present, I have some urgent business, which requires my presence, and cannot stay; but, in coming back, I will call for my money; be so
good as to have it ready for me.” Having said this, he went away. I waited for him a long time, but it was to no purpose, for he did not return till a
month after. “This young merchant,” thought I to myself, “places a great deal of confidence in me, to leave the sum of four thousand five hundred
drachms of silver in my hands, without knowing any thing of me. No one besides himself would surely act thus, for fear I should run away with the
money.” At the end of the third month, I saw him come back, mounted upon the same ass, but much more magnificently dressed than he was
before.
As soon as I perceived the young man, I went out to meet him. I entreated him to alight, and asked, whether he wished me to count out the
money which I had of his. “Never mind that,” he replied, in a lively and contented manner, “I am in no hurry. I know it is in good hands: and I will
come and take it when I shall have spent all I now have, and nothing more remains. Adieu,” added he, “and expect me again at the end of the
week.” At these words, he gave his ass a cut with his whip, and was out of sight in a moment. “Vastly well;” said I to myself, “he has told me to
expect him in a week, and yet if I may judge from the tenor of his conversation, I may not see him this age. Why should not I in the mean time
make some use of his money? it will be of considerable advantage to me.”
I was not mistaken in my conjecture, for a whole year passed before I heard any thing of the young man. At the end of this time he again
appeared, and as richly dressed as he had been the last time he came; but there seemed to me to be something or other which affected his spirits. I
entreated him so far to honour me, as to come into my house. “I agree to it for this once,” he replied, “but it is only on condition, that you put
yourself to no additional trouble or expence on my account.”—“I will do exactly as you please,” I said, “if you will favor me by coming in.” He
immediately alighted, and entered my house. I then gave orders for the refreshments I wished to be procured, and while they were getting ready,
we entered into conversation; and when the repast was served, we sat down to table. The very first morsel he took, I observed it was with his left
hand, and I continued all the time to be much astonished at never seeing him make use of his right. I knew not what to think of it. “From the very
first moment,” I said to myself, “I have known this merchant, I have always seen him behave with the greatest politeness; and it is impossible that
he can act thus out of contempt for me. What can be the reason of his making no use of his right hand?” This matter continued to puzzle me
extremely.
When the repast was over, and my servants had cleared every thing away, and left the room, we went and sat down on a sofa. I then offered,
as a sort of relish, a very excellent kind of lozenge. Still he took it with his left hand. “I entreat you, sir,” at last I cried, “to pardon the liberty I take
in asking you, how it happens, that you always make use of your left hand, and never of the right: some accident surely has happened to it?” At this
he gave a deep sigh, and instead of answering me, he drew out his right arm from his robe, under which he had till now quite concealed it; when I
saw, to my utter astonishment, that his hand was cut off. “You were much shocked, without doubt,” he said, “at seeing me eat with my left hand;
but you now see I could not do otherwise.”—“May I inquire,” I answered, “how you had the misfortune to lose your right hand?” At this request
he began to shed tears; after some time, however, he told me his history, which I am now going to repeat.
“I must in the first place inform you,” said the young man, “that I am a native of Bagdad. My father was extremely rich, and one of the most
eminent men, both as to rank and quality, in that city. I had hardly begun to enter into the society of the world, when I was struck with the accounts
which many people, who had travelled in that country, gave of the wonderful and extraordinary things in Egypt, and particularly at Grand Cairo.
Their conversation made a deep impression on my mind; and I became excessively anxious to make a journey there. But my father, who was still
alive, would not give me permission. He at length died, and as his death left me master of my own actions, I resolved to go to Cairo. I directly
employed a large sum of money in the purchase of different sorts of the fine stuffs and manufactures of Bagdad and Moussoul, and began my
travels.
“When I arrived at Cairo, I stopped at a khan, which they call the khan of Mesrour. I took up my abode there, and also hired a warehouse, in
which I placed the bales of merchandize that I had brought with me on camels. When I had arranged this business, I retired to my apartment, in
order to rest myself, and recover from the fatigue of my journey. In the mean time my servants, to whom I had given some money for that purpose,
went and bought some provisions, and began to dress them. After I had satisfied my hunger, I went to see the castle, mosques, the public places,
and every thing else, that was worthy of notice.
“The next morning, I dressed myself very neatly, and after taking from my bales a few very beautiful and rich stuffs, for the purpose of carrying
them to a bezestein, [3] to know what they would offer me for them, I gave them to some of my slaves, and we went to the bezestein of the
Circassians. I was instantly surrounded by a multitude of brokers and criers, who were soon informed of my arrival. I gave a specimen of my
different stuffs to several criers, who went and showed them all over the bezestein; but I was offered by no merchant not even so much as the
original cost of the merchandize, and the expenses of the carriage. This vexed me very much, and the criers were witness to my resentment and
vexation. “If you will depend upon us,” they said, “we will show you a way to lose nothing by your stuffs.” I asked them what mode I ought to
follow, in order to sell my goods to advantage. “Distribute them,” said they, “among different merchants, who will sell them in small quantities, and
you may come twice every week, namely, on Mondays and Thursdays, and receive the money, for which they have been sold. By this method you
will make some profit, instead of losing any thing, and the merchants also will have an advantage in the business. In the mean time, you will have
opportunity and leisure to walk about and view the town, and to go upon the Nile.”
“I followed their advice, and carried them with me to my warehouse, from which I took out all my goods; and returning to the bezestein, I
distributed them among the several merchants whom they pointed out to me as the most trusty and creditable. The merchants gave me a receipt in
due form, properly signed and witnessed, with the condition, that I should make no demand for the first month.
“Having thus arranged all my business, I gave myself up entirely to pleasure and gaiety. I contracted a friendship with several young men about
my own age, who contributed very much to make my time pass agreeably. When the first month had elapsed, I began to call upon my merchants
regularly twice every week, accompanied by a proper public officer, to examine their books, and a money-changer to ascertain the goodness and
different value of the various sorts of money they paid me. In this manner I constantly brought away, on those days, a considerable sum of money,
which I took with me to the khan of Mesrour, where I lodged. This, however, did not prevent me from going, on the intermediate days of the
week, to pass the morning sometimes with one merchant, and sometimes with another; and I was thus much pleased with their conversation, and
with seeing what passed in the bezestein.
“One Monday, while I was sitting in one of these merchant’s shops, whose name was Bedreddin, a lady of distinction, as I easily conjectured
both by her air and dress, and also by a female slave neatly attired, who followed her, entered the same shop, and sat down close to me. Her
external appearance, joined to a certain natural grace in every thing she did, prejudiced me very much in her favour, and excited a great desire in
me to know more of her than I did. I know not whether she perceived that I took a pleasure in beholding her, or whether my attention pleased her
or not; but she lifted up the thick crape that hung over the muslin, which concealed the lower part of her face, and thus gave me an opportunity of
seeing her black eyes, that quite charmed me. She at last completed her conquest, and made me quite in love with her, by the pleasant tone of her
voice, and by her obliging and modest manner, when she addressed herself to the merchant, and inquired after his health, since she had seen him
last.
“After she had conversed some time upon indifferent subjects, she told him that she was in search of a particular sort of stuff, with a gold
ground: and that she came to his shop, because it contained the best assortment of goods of any in the bezestein; and that if he had such a thing, he
would much oblige her by shewing it to her. Bedreddin opened a good many different pieces, and having fixed upon one, she stopped and asked
the price of it. He said, he could afford to sell it her for eleven hundred drachms of silver. ‘I will agree to give you that sum,’ she replied, ‘though I
have not the money about me; but I hope you will give me credit for it till to-morrow, and suffer me to carry the stuff home, and I will not fail to
send you eleven hundred drachms, for which we have agreed, in the course of to-morrow.’ ‘Madam,’ answered the merchant, ‘I would give you
credit with the greatest pleasure, and you should have full permission to take the stuff home with you, if it belonged to me; but it is the property of
this young man, whom you see there, and this is one of the days fixed upon to give an account of the money for which his goods are sold.’—‘How
comes it,’ cried the lady, ‘that you treat me in this manner? Am I not in the habit of coming to your shop? And every time I have bought any stuffs,
you have desired me to carry them home, without first paying for them; and have I ever failed sending you the money on the following day?’ The
merchant agreed to it. ‘It is all very true, madam,’ he answered, ‘but to-day I have occasion for the money.’—‘Well then,’ she cried, throwing it
down, ‘take your stuff, and may God confound you, and all of your fellow merchants, for you are all alike, and have no regard for any one but
yourselves.’ Having said this, she rose up in a passion and went away extremely piqued against Bedreddin.
“When I saw that the lady was gone, I began to feel very much interested about her, and before she was too far off, I called her back, and said,
‘Do me, madam, the favour to return, and perhaps I shall find a way to accommodate and satisfy both yourself and the merchant.’ She came back,
but made me understand it was entirely on my account. ‘Sir,’ said I, at this moment, to the merchant, ‘how much do you say it is that you wish to
receive for this stuff, which belongs to me?’—‘Eleven hundred drachms of silver,’ he replied, ‘nor can I possibly let it go for less.’ ‘Give it then,’
said I, ‘to the lady, and permit her to carry it home. I will give you one hundred drachms for your profit, and give you an order to take this sum out
of the account of the other merchandize which you have of mine.’ I immediately wrote the order, signed it, and put it into the hands of Bedreddin.
Then presenting the stuff to the lady, I said, ‘You have now, madam, full power to take it away with you, and with respect to the money, you may
send it to-morrow, or the next day, or if you will do me the honour to accept of the stuff, it is quite at your service.’—‘This,’ replied the lady, ‘is
very far from my intention. You have behaved with so much politeness, and in so obliging a manner, that I should be unworthy of appearing in the
society of men, if I did not prove my gratitude to you. May God increase your fortune, suffer you to live a long time after I am gone; open the gates
of heaven at your death; and may all the city publish the report of your generosity!’
“This speech gave me courage, and I said to her, ‘Suffer me then, madam, only to see your face, as a return for the favour you say I have done
you. This will repay me, even with usury.’ At these words, she turned herself towards me, and lifting up the muslin which covered her face, she
displayed a countenance most wonderfully beautiful. I was so much struck with it, that I could think of nothing to express what I felt at the sight. I
was unable to take my eyes off, but she quickly covered her face again, for fear any one should perceive her, and after drawing down her long
crape veil, she took up the piece of stuff, and went out from the shop, leaving me in a very different state from what I was in before her arrival. My
mind continued greatly troubled, and strongly disordered for some length of time. Before I left the merchant, I asked him if he knew who the lady
was; and he told me she was the daughter of an emir, who left her, at his death, an immense fortune.
“I had no sooner returned to the khan of Mesrour, than my people brought up supper; but I was unable to eat the least morsel. Nor could I
close my eyes during the whole night, which appeared to me of more than ordinary length. As soon as it was day I got up, with the hopes of again
beholding the object who thus disturbed my repose: and with the wish, should I be so fortunate of pleasing her, I dressed myself still nicer than I
had done the day before. I then returned to the shop of Bedreddin.
“I had not been there a great length of time before I saw the lady approach, followed by her slave. She was much more magnificently dressed
than on the preceding day. Paying no attention to the merchant, she addressed herself only to me. ‘You see, sir,’ she said, ‘that I have kept my
word with you very exactly. I promised yesterday to do so, and have now come on purpose to bring you the amount of what you had the
goodness to trust me, without knowing any thing of me. This is an act of generosity I shall never forget.’—‘There was not the least necessity,
madam,’ I replied, ‘for you at all to hurry yourself.’ I was perfectly easy with respect to my money, and am sorry for the trouble you have given
yourself.’—‘It would not, however, have been just in me to have abused your good nature,’ she replied. In saying this, she put the money into my
hands, and sat down near me.
“Taking the advantage which this opportunity of conversing with her gave me, I declared the love I felt for her; but she got up and left me so
hastily, that I believed she was offended at the confession I made. I followed her with my eyes, as long as I could see her; and when she was quite
out of sight, I took my leave of the merchant, and left the bezestein without knowing where I went. I was meditating upon this adventure, when I
felt some person pull me behind; I instantly turned round to see who it was, and recognized the young slave belonging to the lady by whom my
whole mind was absorbed. This sight delighted me. ‘My mistress,’ said she, ‘who is the young lady that spoke to you in the shop of the merchant,
wishes to speak a few words to you, if you will have the goodness to follow me.’ I instantly went with her, and in truth found her mistress waiting
for me in the shop of a money-changer.
“She directly invited me to sit down near her, and began the conversation by saying, ‘Be not, my dear sir, surprised that I quitted you just now
so abruptly: but I did not think it prudent, before that merchant, to give any thing like a favourable answer to the acknowledgment you made of my
having inspired you with sentiments of affection. Far, however, from being offended at the confession, I own to you, it afforded me great pleasure
to hear you say, that I was not indifferent to you; and I esteem myself happy in having acquired the regard of a man of your worth and merit. I
know not what impression the sight of me may have made upon you, but with respect to myself, I can assure you, that I felt, on the very first
moment I saw you, a very great inclination towards you. Ever since yesterday morning I have thought of nothing but what you said, and my haste
and anxiety to discover you this morning was so great, that it ought to be sufficient to convince you, that you by no means displease me. ‘Madam,’
I exclaimed, transported with love, and filled with delight, ‘nothing I could possibly hear, could give me half so much pleasure as what you have
now had the goodness to say to me. It is impossible for any one to feel a stronger regard than I have done for you, from the first happy moment I
set my eyes upon you. They were quite dazzled with so many charms, and my heart yielded without the least resistance.’—‘Let us not then,’ she
said, interrupting me, ‘lose any time in useless speeches, I do not doubt your sincerity, and you shall immediately be convinced of mine. Will you
do me the honour of visiting my house? Or, if you had rather, I will accompany you.’—‘Madam,’ replied I, ‘I am quite a stranger in this city, and
have only lodgings at a khan, which is by no means a proper place to receive a lady of your rank and quality. It will surely be much better for you
to have the goodness to acquaint me with your residence; where I shall be delighted to have the honour of waiting upon you.’ The lady consented
to this plan. ‘On Thursday next,’ said she, ‘which is the day after to-morrow, come directly after mid-day prayers into the street, called Devotion-
street. You have only to inquire for the house of Abon Schamma, surnamed Bercour, and formerly chief of the emirs; at that place you will find
me.’ Having said this, we separated, and I passed the whole of the next day with the greatest impatience.
“When Thursday came, I got up very early, and dressed myself in the handsomest robe I had. I put a purse, containing fifty pieces of gold, into
my pocket, and I set out mounted upon an ass, which I had ordered the day before, and accompanied by the man of whom I had hired it. When
we were come into Devotion-street, I desired the owner of the ass to inquire whereabout the house, which I was seeking after, was: some person
immediately pointed it out, and he then conducted me to it. I alighted at the door, rewarded the man very liberally, and dismissed him; desiring him
at the same time to observe well the house at which he left me, and not to fail to return for me the next morning, in order to take me back to the
khan of Mesrour.
“I knocked at the door; when two little slaves, as white as snow, very neatly dressed, immediately came and opened it. ‘Come in, sir, if you
please,’ they said, ‘our mistress has been waiting very impatiently for you. For two whole days she has never once ceased talking of you.’ I went
into a court, and observed a pavilion, raised about seven steps from the ground, and surrounded with some trellis-work, which divided it from a
very beautiful garden. Besides some trees, which served at the same time both for embellishment and shelter from the rays of the sun, there was an
infinite number of others, which were loaded with all kinds of fruit. I was charmed with the warbling of a great many birds, which mingled their
notes with the murmurs of a fountain, that threw its water to a vast height, in the midst of a parterre, enamelled with flowers. The fountain also was
a very pleasing sight. Four large gilt dragons were seen at the four angles of the reservoir, which was exactly square: and these dragons threw up
the water in great abundance, and clearer and more brilliant than rock chrystal. This place was so full of beauties, that it gave me a very high idea
of the conquest I had made. The two little slaves desired me to go into a saloon, that was magnificently furnished; and while one of them was gone
to inform her mistress of my arrival, the other remained with me, and pointed out all the beauties of the saloon.
“I had not been long in this place, before the lady, whom I was so much in love with, made her appearance, adorned with the finest diamonds
and pearls, but she appeared still more brilliant from the lustre of her eyes than from that of her jewels. Her figure, which was now no longer
concealed by her walking dress, as when I met her in the city, seemed to me to be the finest and most striking in the whole world. I can never
express to you the delight we experienced at again beholding each other; indeed the strongest description would do injustice to our feelings. I can
only say, that after the first compliments were over, we both sat down on a sofa, where we conversed together with the greatest satisfaction
imaginable. They then served up the most delicate and exquisite dishes. We sat down to table, and after our repast, we recommenced our
conversation, which lasted till the evening set in. They then brought us some most excellent wine, and also some dried fruits well adapted to excite
a desire for drinking; and we drank to the sound of instruments on which some slaves played, and accompanied at the same time with their voices.
The lady of the house also sung herself, and by this completely confirmed her conquest, and rendered me the most passionate of lovers. In short, I
passed the whole night in a series of all kinds of delightful pleasures.
“The next morning, having first very slily put the purse with fifty pieces of gold in it, which I had brought with me, under her pillow, I got up and
bid her adieu. Before I went, she asked me when I would return again. ‘I promise you, madam,’ I replied, ‘to come back this evening.’ She
seemed delighted with my answer, conducted me herself to the door, and, at parting, she conjured me not to forget my promise.
“The same man, who had brought me the day before, was now waiting for me with his ass. I immediately mounted, and returned to the khan of
Mesrour. In dismissing the man, I told him I would not pay him, but that he might come again with his ass after dinner, at the hour I fixed.
“As soon as I was returned to my khan, my first business was to go and purchase a nice lamb and several sorts of cakes, which I sent as a
present to the lady by a porter. I then transacted my more important affairs, till the owner of the ass arrived, when I went with him to the lady’s
house. She received me with as much joy as on the day before, and regaled me in quite as magnificent a style. When I left her the next morning, I
put, as before, a purse, containing fifty pieces of gold, under the pillow, and returned to the khan of Mesrour.
“I continued thus to visit the lady every day, and each time I left a purse, with fifty pieces of gold in it. I pursued this plan, till the merchants to
whom I had given my merchandise to dispose of, and whom I visited regularly twice a week, had nothing more of mine in their hands; I then found
myself without any money, or the least chance of obtaining any.
“In this horrid state, I was ready to give myself up to despair. I went out of my khan, without knowing what I was about, and walked towards
the castle, where there was a great multitude of people collected to be present at a spectacle which was given by the sultan of Egypt. When I came
to the spot where the crowd was collected, I mixed with the thickest part of it; and by chance I found myself near a gentleman very well mounted,
and very handsomely dressed. To the pummel of his saddle there was fastened a little bag half open, from which a green string hung out. By
touching the outside of the bag, I thought I discovered, that the green string, which hung down, belonged to a purse, that was within side. At the
very moment I was forming this opinion, a porter, carrying a large bundle of wood, passed so close to him on the other side of his horse, that he
was obliged to turn towards him in order to prevent the wood from touching him, and tearing his dress. The devil at this moment tempted me; and
laying hold of the string with one hand, while with the other I enlarged the opening of the bag, I drew out the purse without being perceived by any
one. It was very heavy, and I did not doubt, but it was filled either with gold or silver.
“The porter was no sooner gone past but the person on horseback, who seemed to have had some suspicion of my intention, while his head
was turned away, instantly put his hand into the bag, and missing the purse, he gave me such a blow, that I fell to the ground. They, who saw this
violent attack, directly began to take my part; some seized the bridle of his horse to stop him, and asked him what he meant by thus knocking me
down; and how he durst thus ill treat a mussulman. ‘What business is this of yours...
